


Night Terrors

by faithfulcat111



Series: Sanders College Au [2]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: College AU, Gen, Human AU, not nightmares, patton and virgil are roommates, talk about sleeping disorders, talking about night terrors, the actual sleeping disorder night terrors
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-26
Updated: 2019-08-26
Packaged: 2020-09-27 05:36:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20402524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/faithfulcat111/pseuds/faithfulcat111
Summary: Virgil explains to Patton what exactly is up with his sleeping disorder after a rough night. For Patton, not Virgil.





	Night Terrors

**Author's Note:**

> Night Terrors (pulled from Mayo Clinic website) - 
> 
> Sleep terrors are episodes of screaming, intense fear and flailing while still asleep. Also known as night terrors, sleep terrors often are paired with sleepwalking. Like sleepwalking, sleep terrors are considered a parasomnia — an undesired occurrence during sleep. A sleep terror episode usually lasts from seconds to a few minutes, but episodes may last longer.  
Sleep terrors differ from nightmares. The dreamer of a nightmare wakes up from the dream and may remember details, but a person who has a sleep terror episode remains asleep. Children usually don't remember anything about their sleep terrors in the morning. Adults may recall a dream fragment they had during the sleep terrors.  
Sleep terrors generally occur in the first third to first half of the night, and rarely during naps. A sleep terror may lead to sleepwalking.  
During a sleep terror episode, a person may:  
-Begin with a frightening scream or shout  
-Sit up in bed and appear frightened  
-Stare wide-eyed  
-Sweat, breathe heavily, and have a racing pulse, flushed face and dilated pupils  
-Kick and thrash  
-Be hard to awaken, and be confused if awakened  
-Be inconsolable  
-Have no or little memory of the event the next morning  
-Possibly, get out of bed and run around the house or have aggressive behaviour if blocked or restrained
> 
> Putting this here so you can be better informed about what I am writing about. As someone who suffered from both sleepwalking and night terrors as a child, I am very passionate about making sure people are informed about what night terrors actually are.

"Are you okay"  
Virgil turned from where he was lacing up his boots to see Patton staring at him from under his covers. His roommate sounded tired, which wasn't surprising considering he didn't have to be up for another two hours. The only reason Virgil was even up was that he stupidly took an 8 am class this semester. "Yeah?" Virgil said, giving the laces another pull. "What's up?"  
"You spent half the night mumbling into your pillow," Patton pushed himself up slightly, squinting at Virgil. "And I'm pretty sure you were trying to punch a hole in the wall at some point."  
"Oh, sorry," Virgil stood up, grabbing his hoodie and pulling it on.  
"Verge," Patton's tone stopped him as he started for the door. "What happened last night?"  
"Patton, I probably just had night terrors last night," Virgil said, one hand still on the doorknob. "I told you about them at the beginning of the semester, when you moved in. They've been happening less and less, hell my last two roommates never even saw them. But, apparently, they can still happen."  
"But what could have terrified you so badly? It can't be good to just not talk about your nightmares with anyone. Even if they aren't happening as much. I know you also have anxiety and such, could that be causing it? Or are your nightmares causing the anxiety? Or..."  
"Pat," Virgil cut him off. "I have night terrors, not nightmares."  
Patton stopped, now fully sitting up, "What?"  
Virgil dropped down into his desk chair, now resolved that he might be slightly late for being early to class, "Nightmares are what you are thinking of. Hell, most people think night terrors are just an extreme version of nightmares. Lord knows my sister certainly does. But the actual psychological sleeping disorder, night terrors, is not extreme nightmares. The main symptom is that they happen in the deepest part of non-Rem sleep, have you gotten to Rem and non-Rem sleep yet in Psych?"  
Patton shook his head and Virgil continued, "Well, there are multiple levels of sleep. Nightmares occur during Rem sleep. Night terrors occur during, I believe it is non-Rem 3, the deepest you can go. Of course, it is near impossible to wake up someone from that level and if you do manage it, the person certainly doesn't remember what caused it. Which is what makes it so hard to study. The only reason we know I have it is because my mom was concerned when I moved in as a teenager and was still having nightmares, couldn't remember them, and she could never wake me from the problem. It is where half my bruises came from then because I would just hit the wall, the bedframe, anything. It was an at-least twice-weekly occurrence when I was fourteen. But at least I had stopped sleep-walking by then."  
"Huh," Patton murmured as he thought this over. "And you never remember anything?"  
"Nope," Virgil shook his head.  
"Then why is it happening less and less, as you said?" Patton asked.  
"That's the thing, why night terrors are typically only a childhood sleeping disorder. Because as you grow older, you don't go into non-Rem 3 as much and, eventually, you stop altogether. Another mystery when it comes to human sleep patterns," Virgil explained.  
"So, you are likely never going to wake me up with another night terror?" Patton asked.  
Virgil shrugged, "Likely. Now go back to sleep, you don't have class till eleven."  
Patton laid back down, "Okay, have fun in whatever you're going to."  
Virgil chuckled as he slipped out the door, "Thanks, Pat."


End file.
